1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to prepared foods and more particularly relates to water-reconstitutable juice and soup compositions and to methods of their manufacture.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Numerous publications and scientific articles have disclosed that pectin, protopectin, gums and mucilages have useful water absorbing and stool softening or dietary fiber functions. They have been referred to as substances lending "smoothage" to a dietary product. On the other hand, bran and its cellulose and hemicellulose components have been shown to have useful dietary and bulking fiber effects and have been referred to as substances lending "roughage" to a dietary product.
Substitutes for fresh fruit juices such as orange juice have become very popular and are currently in wide use. Many of these products consist mainly of sugar and flavoring. It has been noted that one of the primary problems encountered in the manufacture of substitute fruit juices, such as a synthetic orange juice, is the thinness of the orange juice. Such juices more closely simulate canned orange juice or bottled orange drinks rather than freshly squeezed orange juice. Several products have been developed in Europe where portions of orange sac and some of the orange albedo have been dried and incorporated into such drinks to simulate the natural material, but these substances are at low levels in the composition and serve almost as artifacts to remind the drinker that freshly squeezed orange juice contains a certain amount of orange sac material. The result, however, is still a very thin product which again is more similar to canned orange juice than to naturally squeezed orange juice. Further, it has been noted that there are very few synthetic tomato juices or tomato soups which have thickening in them which will remain thick, without forming a heavy gel. The gel is unpleasant in mouth feel.
The water-reconstituted compositions of my invention have a mouth feel simulating the natural products they substitute for. The compositions are prepared by a novel combination of certain dietary fiber materials which have hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics and which contribute specific slippery or smooth characteristics, and others which provide thickening characteristics. In combination they improve the mouth feel of the juice or soup and thereby simulate the natural food. It was further found that these dietary fiber materials, in combination, can be useful in dietary, i.e.; weight loss, and laxative or stool softening programs. Also, the drinking of these simulated fresh foods keeps a "full" feeling for extended periods of time and thus results in a putting off of pangs of hunger that occur when persons try to diet. For this reason, simulated orange juice and tomato juice or soup and other pleasant tasting compositions of the invention are useful for dietary control.